Ajijic Malecon Bench Project

Hey, 37,000 pesos raised voluntarily. A private/public partnership initiated. No corruption and work actually being done!

Too bad you can't run for Pesidente.

SunFan

Nah....some people wouldn't like my "extreme prejudice" approach to dealing with the bad guys.

Here is a picture of a nearly completed bench. We still need to install the center piece of wood which prevents the skaters from using them to do tricks.

Looks nice, not my favorite color pink but nice.

Carry Bean wrote:Looks nice, not my favorite color pink but nice.

Hey that's Bob Howe Mahogany.

SunFan

Another 1000 pesos from us.

We don't live there but do stay in our house in San Antonio a few weeks a year.

Nice renovation! Kudos!

CanuckBob wrote:Nah....some people wouldn't like my "extreme prejudice" approach to dealing with the bad guys.

I am going to send you a PM or Email. I did this before, and they didn't seem to get to you

Please let me know.

Congrats on the good looking "mahogany" benches. What an improvement !

Thanks however we are not finished yet. I have been chasing them to get it completed. There is still a bit of metalwork to do, a few more missing slats and the installation of the cross pieces to prevent the skateboarder's from wrecking them. What should have been weeks is taking months...….Viva Mexico.

The good news is we are under budget and hope to have enough left over to fix a bridge or two.

I haven't been up to walking on the Malecon for longer than I want to think about, but today I finally got out to see the lake and the benches. Big improvement, but why are they already warping? Nature of the wood or possibly vandalism?

Sight of the day...the deep pool in one of the skateboard dips "kind of" cordoned off except for the entry to it. Hmmm? Made me wonder why there were no drains installed when the park was built. Was that because it never rains in Ajijic?

The benches haven't been finished yet. The metal guy still has to bend back those bars that were bent from the skaters. They also have to install the remaining wooden slats on the repaired benches, the center pieces (which prevents the skaters from doing it again) and then the final varnish coat. What should take days has been taking weeks (months). I haven't seen any progress in 4 weeks. Harry has been pushing Hector almost daily to get this finished.

Thanks, Bob. That explains it. As they used to say back in Santa Cruz,CA about slow moving projects: "slower than a banana slug crawling up a redwood tree."

OK, we are back on track and they are making good progress once again. Here is what a completed bench looks like complete with the "anti skateboarder" cross pieces.


So far we have spend approximately $25,000 pesos so we should have enough left over to put towards at least one bridge.

What a huge improvement! Thank you, CBob, for all your efforts in this project!

gringal wrote:
Sight of the day...the deep pool in one of the skateboard dips "kind of" cordoned off except for the entry to it.  Hmmm?  Made me wonder why there were no drains installed when the park was built.  Was that because it never rains in Ajijic?

There is a drain which feeds into the lake through a pipe. If there hadn't been a drain, you would have seen water pooling there during every rainy season.

Problem - the lake level has risen to the point where instead of the drain feeding into the lake, the lake now feeds into the drain. This isn't going to change any time soon if the recent thread about future water levels is accurate. The skating bowl is now a permanent garbage-collecting, mosquito-breeding pond. If the municipality wants a usable skate bowl, it could be pumped out every time it rains along with plugging the now useless drain to prevent backflow.

Suggestion - turn it into a fish pond?

Fish eating birds would make that difficult.

Irish Gal wrote:What a huge improvement!   Thank you, CBob, for all your efforts in this project!  

While I am the one who collected and disburse the monies, Harry Bublin and Hector Espana have been doing a lot of the leg work and cracking the whip. Be sure to thank them if you see them too.

I guess the mayor will schedule a unveiling event for the benches in the near future. The project must have been his idea right?

LOL

SunFan

Actually the Guadalajara Reporter wants to do an article. I have invited the Mayor because he did supply the labor and Hector is going to ask him to pay for the remainder of the bridge work since the community paid for the benches.

I do hope your original idea, leadership and funding of Inside lakeside's members is not lost on the reporter, eh?

Congratulations and Thanks!

Good job, Bob, the bench is very attractive. Nice that everyone came together on this project. Well done, all.

CanuckBob wrote:

Irish Gal wrote:What a huge improvement!   Thank you, CBob, for all your efforts in this project!  

While I am the one who collected and disburse the monies, Harry Bublin and Hector Espana have been doing a lot of the leg work and cracking the whip. Be sure to thank them if you see them too.

I will do that, CBob! All three of you deserve huge kudos.

The bench project is finished. They turned out better than expected. We have a surplus of $13,000 pesos that we will apply towards renovating the bridges. The Mayor indicated he may supply some additional funds for any shortfall. We are putting together an estimate to present to him shortly. Thanks to everyone who contributed to this project

http://theguadalajarareporter.net/index.php/news/news/lake-chapala/53185-residents-pitch-in-to-fix-up-malecon-benches